


and the world is on my head

by gourdier



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 10:23:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19972498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gourdier/pseuds/gourdier
Summary: "This could have been the other way around."





	and the world is on my head

**Author's Note:**

> title is from "a lot like me" by the offspring

“Tell me why it chose you!”

The boy from the Organization ran at Sora, sparks flying from his keyblades where they scraped the stained-glass ground.

He was just as strong as Sora, and just as nimble. When Sora leapt into the air, the boy followed. Another round of blows and Sora thudded back to the ground.

He readied himself to leap for the next blow but his aggressor, unhindered by gravity, seemed not to follow. He hovered in place over the Station, keyblades held loosely in his grip.

“I see,” he said in his quiet, hoarse voice. “That’s why.”

Sora had only a moment to brace his keyblade as the stranger dropped like a stone and came at him again.

His swings came harder and faster and in the moment that Sora’s knee buckled, his opponent knocked the Kingdom Key from his hand.

The boy drove his keyblade into Sora’s, pinning it to the ground and Sora’s dash stuttered to a halt at the end of his weapon.

It was a clear checkmate but he wouldn’t let it be the end. Sora felt his fist tremble as he clutched at a familiar feeling in his chest, in his palm. He reached for his key –

But the other boy was ready for him when it flashed back in his hand. They traded blow after blow but Sora couldn’t gain any ground; he was tiring.

He stumbled and another hit rattled his balance. He went skidding backwards, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs and leaving him reeling against the ridged glass.

“Give up,” came the steady suggestion. The boy approached from the edge of Sora’s vision.

Sora lay on the ground, struggling to speak. “Who are you?”

“Like I said, someone from –”

“Cut out the mysterious act, okay? You already got me beat, the least you could do is give me a name.”

He hesitated and let his blades dip. Sora seized the opening and leapt. He watched, as if in slow-motion, one of the keyblades whipping towards him, the boy swinging on instinct. Sora couldn’t defend in time.

He stumbled, pain running fresh and sharp along his side. His foe’s hood had fallen in the commotion and Sora smiled. He could finally see Roxas’ face, twisted as if he’d been the one hit.

“That was a good one,” he gasped, injecting the cheer into his voice. His light was slipping and darkness pressed at the ragged edges of his heart, at the corners of his vision. He could feel a new clarity as his heart slowed and he realized who Roxas was to him. “You make a good other.”

“No.” There was the sound of metal clattering to the ground and Roxas was next to him, his empty hands stretching for Sora. “It has to be you. I finally saw it when we fought, I realized –”

“I’m tired.” Sora’s voice was barely a whisper. He sank gratefully into Roxas’ black-robed arms. There was so much he wanted to pass on to Goofy and Donald, still fighting in the waking realm but what he said was, “I just need to rest for a bit...”

* * *

Skyscrapers grew sharp-edged and massive towards the light of Kingdom Hearts. The empty streets were smooth and paved, guiding a path away from The Castle. Rain was a punishment promised by the clouds overhead.

Roxas stood against the moon’s glow, full and heavy, against his back. Two familiar faces from his dreams watched him warily. As if from far away, he heard one of them demand what he had done to Sora, asked why he was here. He was dimly aware that his keyblades had come with him, resting heavy in his straining hands.

The weight of what he had done hit him suddenly and he let go. He watched Oathkeeper and Oblivion flash into nothing.

“I won,” he whispered.


End file.
